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Driving on
Snow
or
Ice
Most of the time, those places where your tires meet the
road probably have good traction.
However, if there is snow or ice between your tires and the
road, you can have a very slippery situation. You’ll have a
lot less traction or
“grip”
and will need to be very careful.
What’s the worst time for this? “Wet ice.” Very cold
snow or ice can be slick and hard to drive on. But wet
ice can be even more trouble because it may offer the
least traction of all. You can get “wet ice” when it’s
about freezing
(32°F; 0°C)
and freezing rain begins to
fall. Try to avoid driving on wet ice until salt and sand
crews can get there.
Whatever the condition
--
smooth ice, packed, blowing
or loose snow
--
drive with caution.
Keep your ASR system on. It improves your ability to
accelerate when driving on a slippery road. Even though
your vehicle has the ASR system, you’ll want
to
slow
down and adjust your driving to the road conditions. See
“ASR System’’ in the Index.
Your anti-lock brakes improve your ability to make a
hard stop on a slippery road. Even though you have the
anti-lock braking system, you’ll want to begin stopping
sooner than you would on dry pavement. See
“Anti-Lock” in the Index.
Allow greater following distance on any slippery road.
Watch for slippery spots. The road might be fine
until you hit a spot that’s covered with ice. On an
otherwise clear road, ice patches may appear in
shaded areas where the sun can’t reach: around
clumps of trees, behind buildings, or under bridges.
Sometimes the surface of a curve or an overpass may
remain icy when the surrounding roads
are
clear. If
you see a patch of ice ahead of
you,
brake before you
are on it. Try not to brake while you’re actually on
the ice, and avoid sudden steering maneuvers.
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